Stone formation in the
kidney or gall bladder is described as a very painful disease. Surgery was
resorted to ever since chloroform came. It is surprising to know that there was
surgery for a few ailments even before anaesthesia was available.

Surgeons developed extraordinary skill in completing the operation in a maximum
of fifteen minutes. Brandy, opium and similar drugs too were used to somewhat
dull the pain. The military received a great number of wounded of all types. Several
types of innovations sprang up, mainly in military hospitals. A hundred years
ago man could stand pain a little more than now.

Laser treatment breaks these stones and the broken remnants are flushed out. That
seems to be the latest treatment available. Of course, scanning makes the human
body transparent, which gives a precise diagnosis. A devotee was diagnosed with
a stone in the gall bladder. He was admitted to the hospital and passed through
the due process. The whole time, he had kept his faith.

Devotees falling ill pray for cure. What is needed is cure. Whether it is allopathy
or ayurveda is immaterial. As a rule, devotees place greater faith in the
Mother and secondarily in the drug and the physician. Learning to look on the
physician as an instrument of Grace has proved effective in most cases, maybe
all cases. Our experience is that not many of us have a total faith, which can
dispense with the entire treatment.

Some pure souls do have such faith and they escape the treatment. These cases
are explained away as wrong diagnosis. As long as there is cure, other things
do not matter. The devotee above mentioned was praying to Mother while he was
undergoing all the tests, etc. His operation was fixed on a Monday morning.

Suddenly there was an inspiration in the patient to call MOTHER ardently so
that the operation would be smooth.

The call led to a descent of peace. Being spiritual peace, his whole body
relaxed and was limp. It was a pleasant feeling instead of the usual tension
before the operation. There was no pain. Looking or feeling closer, he found no
pain at all. Whether the stone had dissolved was a crazy suggestion from
inside. He asked the doctor to take a scan again to see whether the stone had
disappeared.

‘‘You are mad. I can’t do all those things. It was I who saw
the stone in the scan a few days ago,’’ said the doctor, dismissing
his request. The patient persisted. The doctor scanned, and there was no stone.
The same doctor issued the order for his discharge that night. Faith moves
mountains.

A few years ago, someone in Calcutta who had a stroke survived through a
series of miracles on the strength of his wife’s prayer. Here we see one instalment of it.